Lyr’s face tightened. “We thought she was dead. But she’s been the Emperor’s prisoner for over two years.”
“I know. I’m sorry,” Dario said.
Lyr frowned, surprised by his sympathy. I looked away. I wasn’t. I knew Dario was harsh on the outside, but the softest of us all on the inside, much as he tried to hide it.
I could feel Aiden’s eyes on me, watching carefully. Jules had been my friend, too. They knew I’d had a pen pal for a while with a Bamarian noble but I’d never told them who. And then when her letters stopped, I’d never mentioned it again. And they’d never asked.
Lyr looked away, clearing her throat, trying to get her emotions under control. I could feel her unsteadiness in her aura. “The main mission we’ve been assigned to completeis to steal this shield. Otherwise, we don’t get Jules. Do you know anything about it?”
“We’ve seen descriptions of it,” Aiden offered. “It hangs in the Emperor’s throne room, above his seat.”
Meera made a noise of surprise. “We’re stealing a shield? From the Emperor? From his throne room?” She gestured around the room. “Us and what army?”
“There are several Palace guards currently in the employ of His Highness,” Aiden said. “We’re also being offered a team of mercenaries to assist with our escape and retreat—should it come to that.” He swallowed roughly. Aiden had always been a stickler for the rules. For him to be so calm about breaking them, even if they were under my father’s orders, was unlike him. It made me wonder what other things he’d been forced to do for my father. What other cruelties I’d left my friends to endure. What other cruelties they’d been forced to commit.
“Okay,” Lyr said slowly. She stared across the table at Aiden and Dario, clearly waiting for them to speak next. But they were silent, unwilling to share information in case they revealed something we hadn’t known yet.
“We know about Rhyan’s vorakh,” Aiden said suddenly, breaking the silence. He spoke quickly, like he was tripping over the words.
“You know what?” I burst out, my heart pounding.
“We know,” Dario said. “We’ve known. We were sworn to secrecy.”
I felt my chest tighten. A scar on my back that had been dormant for months suddenly burned as if it had just been carved into my skin. I could feel it then, clear as I had the night I’d gotten it. Feel the blade on my back. Hear the oath spoken into the night.
My eyes met Aiden’s, my stomach roiling.
He nodded, something in his expression I couldn’t read. And then he looked away, his attention back on Lyriana.
“You both know?” she asked, looking at me with concern.
“Yes,” Dario said. He reached for one of the scrolls.
“Just like that?” I asked, incredulous. “That’s how you tell me?” I wanted to throw up. I’d nearly died keeping this secret from them. I couldn’t even remember all the times my father had used it against me. Blackmailing me, threatening me, torturing me, forcing me to do his will.
“What do you want from us?” Dario asked. “A Godsdamned coming-out party?”
My chest heaved, and I eyed Aiden. He’d been the one I was most worried about—the one who Garrett—
I coughed, trying to clear my throat. A thousand questions raced through my mind. A hundred different scenarios I’d imagined about the day they’d learn my secret and how they’d react.
Nothing like this reality had ever once entered my imagination.
Aiden pressed his lips together, his eyes red before he shrugged and looked away, fiddling with the scrolls before his seat.
“His Highness told you?” Lyr asked.
“Who else?” Dario said, tapping his fingers on the table.
“We’re here,” Aiden said. “So you can take our presence for consent and acceptance of Rhyan’s situation.”
Lyr slammed her fists on the table, rising from her chair. “Situation? It’s not a fucking situation. It’s part of who he is. And it’s fucking amazing. Do you know how many times he’s saved my life with his vorakh?”
Aiden’s neck reddened. “Now is not the time, my lady, to mention saving lives.”
“I think it fucking is,” Lyr sneered.
But it was Meera who stood then, her aura icy and powerful. “Lyr’s right. Now I don’t care if His Highness assigned you to be here or not. But you’re going to listen,because what we’re planning to do here is save a life. My cousin’s, and she is vorakh. What we do in this room determines our success out there, and what happens out there is life and death, especially for Jules. If there’s any reason why we can’t trust you to help us, then leave. I’ll speak to Imperator Hart myself.” There was a flash in her eyes—a blue light. Cassarya’s.
